Hand-operated knitting machine

ABSTRACT

A hand-operated knitting machine having a pattern device attached to the carriage and acting upon the switches for the needle butts, a coupling device actuated by control means mounted on the needle bed being provided between parts of the transmission rod assembly connecting the pattern device to the needle butts for rendering the pattern device temporarily inoperative.

United States Patent 1191 Ziillig 1451 Sept. 30, 1975 1 1 HAND-OPERATED KNITTING MACHINE [75] Inventor: Heinz Ziillig,Wettingen,

Switzerland [73] Assignee: MADAG Maschinen-und Apparatebau Dietikon AG. Dietikon, Switzerland 221 Filed: Apr. 1, 1974 21 App1.No.:456,460

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data May 15, 1973 Switzerland 6876/73 [52] U.S. Cl. 66/60 [51]- Int. Cl. .L D04B 7/00 [58] Field of Search 66/64, 60, 78

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4171514 12/1889 Seyfert et a1 66/78 2.922.295 1/1960 Kochheim 66/60 2.958.214 11/1960 Bram i 66/78 3,090,214 3/1963 Bram 66/60 Prinulry E.\'mninerR0nald Feldbaum Atwrney, Agent, or Firm'Werner W. Kleeman [57] ABSTRACT A hand-operated knitting machine having a pattern device attached to the carriage and acting upon the switches for the needle butts, a coupling device actuated by control means mounted on the needle bed being provided between parts of the transmission rod assembly connecting the pattern device to the needle butts for rendering the pattern device temporarily inoperative.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 2 22 5 a Q) f 14 2 Q3;

US. Patent Sept. 30,1975 3,908,404

FIG.1

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HAND-OPERATED KNITTING MACHINE The present invention relates to a hand-operated knitting machine having a carriage displaceable with respect to a needle bed, to which carriage a pattern device is attached which acts upon switches for the needle butts by means of an actuating member and transmission rods.

For large and expensive automatic flat knitting machines, means are known which enable a pattern begun in a row of knitting to be temporarily interrupted. This is accomplished by means of sheet metal Jacquard cards applied over the entire width of the needle bed and serving to redistribute the pushing rod jacks or knitting needles in each row. Another known possibility is to divide the entire set of needles according to the pattern repeat period.

These previously known arrangements are suitable only for large-scale machines and are, moreover, relatively complicated to operate.

It is the objectof the present invention to provide a hand-operated knitting machine of the aforementioned type which is easy to operate and which makes it possible to render the pattern device inoperative for any desired interval of knitting so that either intermittent patterns or, for example, patterns running perpendicular to the direction of knitting can be knitted.

According to the invention, this is achieved through a coupling provided between parts of the transmission rod assembly and actuatable by control means mounted on the needle bed for producing or interrupting the transmission of motion between the actuating member and the switches.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is' illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic top plan view and FIGS. 2 and 3 show structural details in exploded perspective views.

All the parts shown, with the exception of the control means in the form of stop 'pins 1 and 2, are attached to the carriage 61 of the hand-operated knitting machine. As for stop pins 1 and 2, they are selectively insertable in a row of holes 3 running parallel to the needle bed Rotatably mounted on the carriage 61 is a cam 4 provided with projections 5 and depressions 6 regularly distributed along its edge. The angle between a projection 5 and an adjoining depression 6 will hereinafter be referred to as one division of cam 4. A cog-wheel 7 is disposed coaxially with cam 4 and is integral in rotation therewith, while a control disc 8, flattened on one side as indicated by reference character 8a, is mounted so as to be freely rotatable on an axle or shaft 9 and pivotable into either of two end positions, corresponding to the movement of the carriage 61, via means not shown. Cooperating with cog-wheel 7 are two pulling pawls 10 and 11, each of which is resiliently articulated to the free end of one of the arms 12, 13 of one of two twoarmed or double-arm stop levers 12/16 and 13/17, respectively, which are pivotable around pins 14 and 15, respectively. The free end of each pulling pawl 10, 11 is provided with a guide pin 18, 19 which is pressed against the outer face of control disc 8 by resilient means (not shown). The parts are so disposed with respect to one another that in each of the two end positions defined by the rotation of control disc 8 caused by the movement of the carriage 61, one of the guide pins 18 or 19 comes to rest upon the flattened portion 8a of the outer face of control disc 8, while the other guide pin is held by the remaining portion of the outer face of the control disc in such a position that a driving nose 20 or 21 of one of the pulling pawls 10, 11 is disengaged from cog-wheel 7, whereas the driving nose of the other pulling pawl engages in the toothing or teeth of cog-wheel 7.

The two stop levers 12/16 and 13/17 pivotable around pins 14 and 15, respectively, are held in their upper position as shown in FIG. 1 by resilient means (not shown). In that position slanting stop faces 22 and 23 of arms 16 and 17 extend into the area of the row of holes 3.

A bent or angled lever 24/25 has its one arm 24, in the form of a feeler lever, pressed resiliently against the outer face of cam 4, while its other arm 25 comprises a perpendicularly projecting driving pin 26 which passes through, among other things, an oblong hole 27 at the free end of one arm 28 of a transmission lever 28/29 pivotable around a pin 33 (cf. FIG. 3). The free end of the other arm 29 of transmission lever 28/29 has a slot 30 into which a coupling pin 31 of a guide rod 32 extends. Between guide rod 32 and lever arm 29 is disposed a coupling tongue 34 in the form of a one-armed lever pivotable around a pin 34a. At its free end, tongue 34 has a substantially T-shaped aperture 35 through which coupling pin 31 also passes. The longitudinal section of the T-shape, facing pivot pin 34a, is only slightly wider than the diameter of coupling pin 31 and thus forms a driving slot 36, while aperture 35 is substantially wider in the area of the transverse section of the T-shape and serves as an uncoupling opening 37 (cf. FIG. 2). The length of coupling pin 31 is such that it extends below the plane of transmission lever 28/29 and enters an angular opening 38 of a base plate 39, this opening being limited by a guide surface 40 on the side of it opposite the point of intersection of the legs of its angular shape.

The end of guide rod 32 remote from coupling pin 31 is articulated to one (43) of two switch levers 43 and 44. These switch levers 43 and 44 are hinged to one another and rotatable around pivots 41 and 42, respectively, the free ends of these levers actuating switchmovers 45 and 46, respectively of the switches 45a and 46a respectively.

Coupling tongue 34 has a bearing recess 47 into which extends one end of an actuating member 48 of a pattern device 49-such as is described in detail in Swiss Patent No. 509,447, for example, and where the actuating member 48 is moved axially back and forth for the purpose of needle selection and for controlling the corresponding switches.

Also rotatingly mounted on the carriage 61 around a pivot 52 is a two-armed or double-arm actuating lever 50/51, one (50) of the arms of which is provided with a handle 53, while the other (51) bears a pulling pawl 54, lever 50/51 being held by a spring 56 in a position where a pawl nose of pulling pawl 54 lies outside the area of cog-wheel 7.

The first step in operating the described apparatus is that the pattern width is marked off on the needle bed by the two stop pins 1 and 2.

FIG. 1 shows an operating position in which the working needles 58 having the needle butts 59 are situated within this pattern strip, .i.e., the selection movement of actuating member 48 is transmitted to switchmovers 45 and 46, and the carriage 61 in FIG. 1 is moved from left to right. In this operating position, coupling pin 31 is within driving slot 36, and pulling pawl of rear (in the direction of travel) stop lever 12/16 is swiveled into its inoperative position owing to the corresponding position of control disc 8, while guide pin 19 of pulling pawl 11 is pressed against the flattened portion 8a of control disc 8 so that driving nose 21 is engaged with cog-wheel 7. Furthermore, the free end of feeler lever 24 is in one of the depressions 6 of cam 4. With the individual parts in this position with respect to one another, the axial reciprocating movements of actuating member 48 are transmitted to switch-movers 45 and 46 via coupling tongue 34, coupling pin 31, guide rod 32, and switch levers 43 and 44, while coupling pin assumes position I within opening 38 (cf. FIG. 2).

If, in the course of the carriage movement from left to right in FIG. 1, stop face 23 of lever arm 17 now strikes against stop pin 1, stop lever 13/l7 will pivot clockwise around pin 15. This pivoting movement will be transmitted via the operative pulling pawl 11 to cogwheel 7 and thus to cam 4, the dimensions being such that upon pivoting of the respective stop lever caused by a stop pin 1 or 2 being struck, cam 4 is rotated by one division. The result is that feeler lever 24 now comes to rest upon a projection 5 of the outer edge of cam 4 and likewise pivots clockwise by a certain amount. This pivoting movement is again transmitted to lever 28/29 pivotable around pin 33, the result of which is that coupling pin 31, which is held in slot 30, is swiveled out of coupling slot 36 into uncoupling opening 37, so that the oscillating movements of actuating rod 48 and coupling tongue 34 can no longer be transmitted to guide rod 32 and thus to switch levers 43, 44 and switch-movers 45, 46. In other words, the release of the coupling consisting of coupling tongue 34 with its aperture 35 and of guide rod 32 with coupling pin 31 prevents the switches 45a and 46a from being actuated by pattern device 49, which now remains inoperative. During the swiveling movement of guide rod 32, coupling pin 31 slides on guide surface 40 from position 1 into position II, so that guide rod 32 is moved upward in FIG. 1. This upward movement is transmitted via an articulated rod pin 57 to the two switch levers 43 and 44 and thus to the two switch-movers 45 and 46, which consequently always assume predetermined position, shown in FIG. 1, when pattern device 49 is uncoupled.

When the carriage 61 moves back, whereupon stop lever 12/16 comes into its operative position owing to the rotation of control disc 8, and stop lever 13/17 comes into its inoperative position, cam 4 is again rotated by one division when stop lever 12/16 strikes against stop pin 2, so that all of the parts, being controlled through feeler lever 24, return once more to the coupling position shown in the drawing, in which position the selection movements of pattern device 49 are transmitted to switch-movers 45 and 46.

Lever 50/5] serves the purpose of enabling the coupling and uncoupling operation to be carried out at any desired location and regardless of the position of stop pins 1 and 2. When lever 50/51 is pivoted clockwise in FIG. 1, nose 55 of pulling pawl 54 comes into the area of the toothing of cog-wheel 7, so that upon a limited further movement of the lever, cog-wheel 7 can be rotated by one division together with cam 4.

In this manner, a hand-operated knitting machine can be provided which makes it possible to cause a pattern device to become intermittently operative in the easiest way imaginable, thus substantially multiplying the patterning possibilities.

What is claimed is:

1. A hand-operated knitting machine, comprising a plurality of needles having butts, a needle bed. control means mounted on said needle bed, needle-butt switches cooperating with the butts of said needles, a carriage reciprocatingly displaceable relative to said needle bed, a pattern device secured to said carriage, a switch-actuating member for the needle-butt switches, a transmission rod assembly, said switchingactuating member operatively connecting said pattern device to said transmission rod assembly, said transmission rod assembly being operatively connected with said switches to effect transmission of motion from said actuating member to said switches, coupling means disposed between said actuating member and said transmission rod assembly for selectively coupling said actuating member to or uncoupling said actuating member from said transmission rod assembly, said control means serving to actuate said coupling means in order to respectively permit or prevent the transmission of motion as a function of said coupling and uncoupling, respectively, of said actuating member with said transmission rod assembly.

2. The knitting machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said coupling means comprises two coupling parts, a cam rotatably mounted on said carriage, at least one stop lever cooperating with said control means for rotating said cam, each said stop lever being operable to rotate said cam in only one direction of displacement of said carriage, a feeler lever contacting said cam, and means for transmitting movements of said feeler lever to one of said two coupling parts.

3. The knitting machine as defined in claim 2, wherein one of said two coupling parts comprises a pin, the other of said two coupling parts comprising a substantially T-shaped aperture, said pin extending into said aperture.

4. The knitting machine as defined in claim 2, wherein there are provided two of said stop levers, a control disk rotatable through the reciprocal displacement of said carriage into two respective positions, said control disk cooperating with said stop levers to cause that one of said two stop levers which is located in a rearward position, with respect to the direction of displacement of the carriage, to pivot into an inoperative position.

5. The knitting machine as defined in claim 3, wherein said coupling means further comprises a guide surface for guiding said pin into a position such that said transmission rod assembly causes said switches to pivot into a predetermined position upon coupling of said transmission rod assembly with said actuating member. 

1. A hand-operated knitting machine, comprising a plurality of needles having butts, a needle bed, control means mounted on said needle bed, needle-butt switches cooperating with the butts of said needles, a carriage reciprocatingly displaceable relative to said needle bed, a pattern device secured to said carriage, a switch-actuating member for the needle-butt switches, a transmission rod assembly, said switching-actuating member operatively connecting said pattern device to said transmission rod assembly, said transmission rod assembly being opeRatively connected with said switches to effect transmission of motion from said actuating member to said switches, coupling means disposed between said actuating member and said transmission rod assembly for selectively coupling said actuating member to or uncoupling said actuating member from said transmission rod assembly, said control means serving to actuate said coupling means in order to respectively permit or prevent the transmission of motion as a function of said coupling and uncoupling, respectively, of said actuating member with said transmission rod assembly.
 2. The knitting machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said coupling means comprises two coupling parts, a cam rotatably mounted on said carriage, at least one stop lever cooperating with said control means for rotating said cam, each said stop lever being operable to rotate said cam in only one direction of displacement of said carriage, a feeler lever contacting said cam, and means for transmitting movements of said feeler lever to one of said two coupling parts.
 3. The knitting machine as defined in claim 2, wherein one of said two coupling parts comprises a pin, the other of said two coupling parts comprising a substantially T-shaped aperture, said pin extending into said aperture.
 4. The knitting machine as defined in claim 2, wherein there are provided two of said stop levers, a control disk rotatable through the reciprocal displacement of said carriage into two respective positions, said control disk cooperating with said stop levers to cause that one of said two stop levers which is located in a rearward position, with respect to the direction of displacement of the carriage, to pivot into an inoperative position.
 5. The knitting machine as defined in claim 3, wherein said coupling means further comprises a guide surface for guiding said pin into a position such that said transmission rod assembly causes said switches to pivot into a predetermined position upon coupling of said transmission rod assembly with said actuating member. 